Michael Workman: Mercy

Michael Workman is listed under ‘comedy’ in the Fringe programme, but this multi-talented Australian stubbornly refuses to pander to genre in this affecting and effective storytelling tour de force.

Workman’s yarn is about Augustus and Freda – a young 1960s Cuban couple who are expecting a child. Minutes after becoming a father, journalist Augustus is arrested for criticising Fidel Castro in print and set adrift on a boat (the Mercy of the title) as punishment. This exile is the cue for a series of fantastical adventures featuring comedic sharks, an angel called Keith and a ‘starmaker’ who constructs constellations from bad teenage poetry.

The lyrical monologue is only part of this multi-layered treat – each part of the story is illustrated with Workman’s witty drawings and soundtracked by his own original hypnotic score.

This isn’t joke-a-minute stuff, it’s a gentle meandering journey more likely to leave audiences choked with emotion than crying with laughter. When Workman sings, it's not to deliver a cheap comedy song, but rather a heartfelt ballad to progress the journey. Wry chuckles give way to goosebumps.

It brings to mind Daniel Kitson’s early experiments with whimsical theatre, intertwined with Demitri Martin’s sense of the absurd. Add in Workman’s intense, magnetic stage presence and this is a killer combination. He landed the Best Newcomer gong at the Melbourne Comedy Festival last year, and with Mercy, he might have to clear some more space on the mantlepiece.